Other People
by Jon Carp
Summary: Trapped somewhere between birth and graduation, two defeated villians chew the fat


Other People  
by Jon Carp  
address: jcarp@med.unc.edu  
  
This is a sequel, in everything but name and content, to "Exit, Pursued By a Bear". There are slight spoilers for both the movie and the series.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
(Scene: A waiting-room, well lit, comfortable, empty save for Mikage Souji, who holds a clipboard in one hand and a pencil in the other. Shadowy figures mill about in the background.)  
  
(pause)  
  
(Takatsuki Shiori enters, with confidence, led by a shadow.)  
  
shiori: So this is it, then?  
  
shadow: This is where you'll wait. Please fill out this form. (it hands her a clipboard similar to Mikage's.) It's very straightforward. We simply want to know more details so that we can properly place you into society.  
  
shiori: Place me into society? (laughs) I didn't expect this. Where are the flames? Where are the instuments of torture?  
  
shadow: Don't be silly. You were a child. Everything children do is forgiven.  
  
shiori: (dubious) By whom?  
  
shadow: The storyteller, of course. Though not necessarily the audience. (it turns suddenly.) Please do not hesitate to ask one of us if you have questions. (it bounds away into the background and is gone.)  
  
(shiori sits, not even glancing at Mikage, who eyes her with interest. She concentrates on the form.)  
  
(pause)  
  
mikage: Pardon me, but do I know you?  
  
shiori: (not looking up) Perhaps, but I don't know YOU.  
  
(pause)  
  
mikage: Very strange... the voice is the same... the features are more or less the same... but the attitude is completely different.  
  
shiori: What are you muttering about?  
  
mikage: Would your name happen to be Takatsuki Shiori?  
  
shiori: (looking up sharply) How do you know my name?  
  
mikage: I used to know you quite well. Or rather, a counterpart of yours.  
  
shiori: What are you talking about? How did you know me?  
  
mikage: I'm sorry, it wasn't you. I can tell that more and more with each word you say. Pardon me for bothering you. (He turns his attention back to his form.)  
  
(Beat. Shiori sets her clipboard down, stands, and sits back down next to mikage.)  
  
shiori: (touching his arm) You said you used to know me QUITE WELL.   
  
mikage: I said, it wasn't you.  
  
shiori: Whatever. Whoever we're talking about, you say you used to know her quite well, hmm? And I remind you of her.  
  
mikage: She was your counterpart.  
  
shiori: And you knew her QUITE WELL, did you?  
  
mikage: She told me things she'd never told anyone.  
  
shiori: (hugging his arm tightly.) Really? What was she like? (She presses herself closer.) Tell me, what was she like?  
  
mikage: (sighing, pulling his arm free.) You're wasting your time. I'm a homosexual pedarast.  
  
shiori: (curious) Oh?  
  
mikage: Yes. I wasn't always like that, though, I used to be asexual.  
  
shiori: (no longer curious.) Oh. That's quite a leap. What happened?  
  
mikage: I fell in love with a woman.  
  
shiori: Oh.  
  
(pause)  
  
shiori: So... you're a homosexual pedarast, are you? I know someone you'd get along REAL WELL with.  
  
mikage: Please, I'm trying to complete this so I can get away from Ohtori forever.  
  
shiori: Oh, you went to Ohtori too? I'm surprised, I thought I'd met everyone there.  
  
mikage: It wasn't the same Ohtori.  
  
shiori: I see. It was its "counterpart", right?  
  
mikage: Right. Now, if you please...  
  
shiori: You know, it doesn't make much sense. If it's true about you and little boys, then this "other me"... why did she tell you such personal things?  
  
mikage: (sighing, realizing he's not getting out of this conversation.) She wanted something.  
  
shiori: What?  
  
mikage: She didn't really know. She was confused.  
  
shiori: Oh. (laughs.) She's nothing like me, then. I always know EXACTLY what I want.  
  
mikage: Mmm.  
  
shiori: But... what did she THINK she wanted? Why'd she go to YOU?  
  
mikage: Well... she was virtually obsessed with someone.  
  
shiori: (gleefully, like a gossiping child.) Really? Who? Someone I know?  
  
mikage: Yes, someone you know quite well, actually. Arisugawa Juri.  
  
(pause)  
  
shiori: (ashen.) Juri?  
  
mikage: Mmm.  
  
shiori: JURI?!  
  
mikage: Mmm.  
  
shiori: I... she... was like THAT? With JURI?!!  
  
mikage: Sort of. She didn't know. Like I said, she was very confused.  
  
shiori: How did... things turn out? She's not... WITH Juri now, is she?  
  
mikage: Well, let me see. (He sets his form aside and stares off into space.) I can see them. I... don't know if their relationship is a romantic one or not.  
  
shiori: What are they doing?  
  
mikage: Right now? Fencing.  
  
shiori: Fencing?! (beet red.) I... FENCE... with Juri-san?  
  
mikage: (picking his form up again.) Yes.  
  
shiori: (regaining her composure.) Well, that's obviously not me. I would never be caught dead willingly spending time with Juri. Besides, she's probably just doing that to mock me. Then she goes with that BOY and spends all her time with him, right?  
  
mikage: (raising en eyebrow.) Boy?  
  
shiori: Yes, boy. That Kaoru boy. Very cute, I'm surprised you don't know all about him.  
  
mikage: Oh, I know him. I'm more interested in his sister, though. Dangerous girl.  
  
shiori: (darkly) I hate them both. (a sneer spreads across her face.) Oh, but what does Touga-san think of my fencing with Juri? Is he impressed?  
  
mikage: Touga? Kiryuu Touga? (he chuckles.) He doesn't even know your name. If he can even recognize you, it's only because he's been paying attention to Arisugawa.  
  
(pause)  
  
shiori: Don't mock me, you freak.   
  
mikage: I'm not mocking you. I'm simply telling you the truth.  
  
shiori: Stop it!! I OWN Touga-san!! He wouldn't even EXIST if it weren't for me!!  
  
mikage: Please don't yell.  
  
shiori: Take that back!! What you said, take it back!!   
  
mikage: Fine, I take it back. Just stop yelling, please.  
  
shiori: I'll yell if I want to! You can't get away with telling lies like that! First you go on about "me" and Juri-san, and now THIS! You... (She trails off as she suddenly realizes something. She glares at him.) Oh, you little bastard.  
  
mikage: What?  
  
shiori: You've been PLAYING with me! You said the "other me" was obsessed with someone I know. How did YOU know I know Juri?  
  
(pause)  
  
mikage: (chuckling) Okay, you caught me. It took a moment to recognize you, but I have seen you before.  
  
shiori: Where?  
  
mikage: (gesturing toward the mass of shadowy figures that surrounds them) There. They act out all the stories, without even meaning to. If you watch carefully, you can catch glimpses.  
  
shiori: (looking) Oh... yes, there I am. Sparring with Juri, like you said. My god, I'm so small and ugly...  
  
mikage: But you're happy. With her, you're happy. You've gotten what you didn't even know you wanted.  
  
shiori: (still staring into the shadows.) I hate Juri-san so much.  
  
mikage: She knows, she knows. But she can't make herself hate you in return.  
  
shiori: (decisively) That's not me. That can't be me. I would never be weak enough to run to HER. I despise weak people.  
  
mikage: I'm sure you do. But THAT Shiori is happy, and THAT Shiori is still alive.  
  
shiori: (ignoring him, scanning the shadows.) Yes... oh, and speaking of dead people, there YOU are. In the dark. (she grins.) Oh, my. What a strange man you are, Mikage Souji.  
  
mikage: Indeed.  
  
shiori: Oh, and there's your little boy! But wait, he's leaving the darkness... (shiori stares, and then laughs out loud.) My goodness! Will you look at that! (She leers at mikage.) You're not much of a homosexual pederast after all, are you?  
  
mikage: He was a real boy. When he was with me, he was real.  
  
shiori: Oh, I'm sure he was real enough to you, real enough to touch and be touched by, hmm? (she laughs.) Oh, I pity you, for having to be close to that awful witch. You know, she's the one that killed me.  
  
mikage: She killed me, too.  
  
shiori: I wouldn't go that far.   
  
mikage: You don't understand. Of all the people in the world, you understand the least.  
  
shiori: Why do you say that?  
  
mikage: Because we're talking about love.  
  
shiori: Ohh, it was love, was it? You had problems with love? Well, excuse me for not feeling sorry for the handsome genius.  
  
(pause)  
  
mikage: (darkly) You're a very unpleasant person. I much prefered your counterpart.   
  
shiori: Why, because you could use her? Because she was stupid enough to become your servant? Ha, you just resent anyone as cunning as you are.  
  
mikage: It was NEVER a matter of cunning. I was always honest. And my intentions were noble, unlike yours.  
  
shiori: Noble?! You idiot, do you not even SEE what you were doing?!  
  
mikage: I was trying to save someone I loved. You only wanted to have everything for yourself.  
  
shiori: Not everything. Just what I deserved. I deserved to own Juri just as I owned Touga.   
  
mikage: You think you DESERVED them? You treated them horribly. You even pushed her into a river to drown.  
  
shiori: Of course I did, and he died saving her. (she cackles.) They never forgot me, did they? To them, I was the most special, forever and ever. (casting her eyes over his body.) Besides, who are YOU to judge me? You commited more evil than I ever did.  
  
mikage: What are you talking about?  
  
shiori: (pointing into the shadows.) YOU killed a HUNDRED PEOPLE!! Like an animal, you slaughtered them all, and I can prove it!  
  
mikage: (laughing) Right, what are you going to do, show everyone a video of the building burning ME down?  
  
shiori: (seething) It doesn't matter. We both know what you did.  
  
mikage: I was a child. I've been forgiven.  
  
shiori: Oh yes, I'd almost forgotten. You're right, it's stupid to talk about this. We ESCAPED Ohtori. (She hugs herself in delight.) We ESCAPED. It doesn't MATTER what we did there, we'll never ever have to go back.  
  
mikage: We never escaped. We let ourselves be cast aside.   
  
(pause)  
  
shiori: We didn't escape?  
  
mikage: Of course not. Only Tenjou and Himemiya escaped. We're just moving on to bigger coffins, and we'll have to try to escape from those.  
  
shiori: (enraged) Never say those names again. I WOULD have escaped, if they hadn't cheated!  
  
mikage: Cheated? They just did what they're supposed to. One was a car and the other was a driver, and they escaped together.  
  
shiori: They stole what I deserved to have. They MUST have cheated!   
  
(pause)  
  
mikage: (almost to himself.) You could have had a driver, you know. You were strong, you were able to turn into a car, and all you needed was someone to help you manuever the road.  
  
(pause)  
  
mikage: She loved you. If you had just asked her to be your driver, you would have made it to the real world together.  
  
shiori: I don't want to look. Was she hurt when she found out I died?  
  
mikage: (peering into the shadows.) Yes. Devestatingly so.  
  
shiori: (grinning) Good.  
  
mikage: But luckily she had that Kaoru boy to console her.  
  
(pause)  
  
mikage: It's ironic. If you had ONLY asked, she would have forgotten him, left him behind to be devoured by his sister. She's a good driver, you know. You wouldn't have crashed.  
  
shiori: (growling) How do you know she's a good driver? She's nothing but a failure, she couldn't even beat Tenjou in a duel!  
  
mikage: You don't know?   
  
shiori: Know what?  
  
mikage: Oh... maybe you should look for yourself.  
  
shiori: I don't WANT to look. Tell me what happened!  
  
mikage: Not long after you went off the road, she drove someone else out to save Himemiya from the million black cars. She didn't go all the way, but she could have. She was an expert driver.  
  
(pause)  
  
shiori: Who did she drive?  
  
mikage: Another of my poor friends. Shinohara Wakaba.  
  
shiori: Shinohara?! That annoying--  
  
mikage: Yes, her. Do you know why? Because Shinohara ASKED.  
  
shiori: (screaming) Shut up!! Juri-san wouldn't have EVER driven me ANYWHERE!  
  
mikage: She dreamed about it, Takatsuki. Every night.   
  
shiori: Shut up, Souji!  
  
mikage: And you would have become a car, and she would have sat in YOUR leather seat and shifted YOU into first gear, and you'd NEVER have crashed.  
  
shiori: I'm telling you...  
  
mikage: And you would have been a BEAUTIFUL car, Takatsuki, absolutely beautiful. Not the drab, tank-like CRATE you died as...  
  
shiori: (striking him.) I said, SHUT UP!!  
  
pause. mikage wipes a trickle of blood from his mouth. shiori fumes, enraged. They are silent for a long time.  
  
shiori: (slowly laughing, bitterly.) It's amusing to hear you talk about irony.  
  
mikage: (not looking at her.) Why?  
  
shiori: You laughed at me, LAUGHED at me. But YOU'RE the ridiculous one.   
  
mikage: What are you talking about?  
  
shiori: You know as well as I do. You think I don't understand love. But... you said it yourself. I have people who would drive me if I asked them to.  
  
(pause. mikage still refuses to look at her.)  
  
shiori: (laughing harder.) It's SO funny! Who would sit in YOUR leather seat, Souji? The boy was an illusion, and the woman despised you. Who, then?  
  
(she is haraunging him from close range. her hands touch his body.)  
  
shiori: No one! No one at all! Oh, you poor, sad man. I really do pity you.  
  
mikage: We've left Ohtori. You're the only one left to pity me, just as I'm the only one left to pity you.  
  
(pause. shiori touches him more and more.)  
  
mikage: It won't be long, you know. Very soon the Kaoru boy will turn into a car and Arisugawa will drive him. They'll escape. And then all your ties will be severed, like mine have been.  
  
shiori: (now fully sitting on his lap, clinging to him, her head lying on his shoulder.) I don't care. We shouldn't care. Ohtori is gone. It's where we lived when we were children.   
  
mikage: Yes.  
  
(pause)  
  
mikage: Get started on your form, Takatsuki. You won't be able to leave here until you do.  
  
shiori: (burying her head in his chest.) I will... in a moment. Just let me stay here for right now, please? I wasn't ready, I want to stay a child for just a little longer.  
  
mikage: All right. (but he eyes his own clipboard longingly.)  
  
shiori: The other me isn't grown up yet, is she? She's such an idiot. I hate her. I'm more special than she is, right? I wasn't stupid enough to believe your lies.  
  
mikage: I suppose.  
  
(pause. mikage softly chuckles to himself.)  
  
shiori: (glaring up) What's so funny?  
  
mikage: It's just amusing to me that you're so different from yourself. It's almost like you're two different people.  
  
shiori: I don't want to think about her. She's WEAK. She's nothing.  
  
mikage: All right.  
  
(long pause)  
  
shiori: We're not children anymore, and we're not adults yet... what are we then?  
  
(pause)  
  
mikage: We're dead.  
  
(pause)  
  
shiori: It's better than being a child was.  
  
mikage: Yes, it is.  
  
(fade out) 


End file.
